Little Cherry Tree
by elauriejadie
Summary: Kaori is a Japanese girl who lives a very traditional lifestyle. She is not allowed to date, although she's never given a second thought to most boys or the aspect of dating. When a certain cheerful wolf imprints on her can he change her and her family's mind?
1. Chapter 1: Kaori

Hi... umm... New Story! Kaori's face claim is Nozomi Sasaki.

Disclaimer: I Do not own twilight or any of its characters, all belongs to Stephanie Meyers.

Please tell me what you think.

* * *

My name is Kaori, Kaori Kozakura Aragaki. I am addicted to music, dancing and skateboarding. I'm really loud, and I say what's on my mind. I tend to be a bit bubbly and overbearing at times; and friends tell me I smile too much. But why frown when there's nothing to frown about?

I'll admit that I'm a spoiled daddy's girl, but my parents are only kinda rich. My dad is the CEO of some company that keeps us moving around a lot and my mom owns a small fashion label. My parents are from a small city in Japan, where most of my family still is. We live a very traditional life style. The only way I convinced my father to let me do 'unconventional dance' like hip hop was if I basically became a music genius. Every 6 months for six years, he added an instrument to my list. And I added a dance. But eventually, he stopped and let me excel in my dancing. So now I play the piano, the violin, the guitar, the harp, the flute, the saxophone, the cello, the piccolo, the drums, the clarinet, the organ, and the trumpet. As far as dance, you name it, I can do it. Period. My father was upset when I added gymnastics to the list, so he added soccer. I never have time to breathe.

Between moving every year, soccer and gymnastic practices, 4 hour music lessons and 6 hour dance lessons, I never really had time to think about boys. Not that I would be allowed to date anyway. But I'm like fifteen and I don't ever remember looking at a boy and thinking about anything other than what he's doing or saying. I have never been struck with the thought, "Oh he's cute", or "He's hot". When my friends talked about it, I was hopelessly lost and confused in the conversation because I had no idea who they were talking about or I had never thought of them... In that way.

I have large brown eyes, light bronzey colored hair with fringe bangs and small pink lips. I'm 5"6 and as thin as a tree branch. You would think I'm awkward and clumsy, but after years of dance, I'm not _so_ awkward and not at all clumsy.

When my parents told me we were moving to Washington, it was no surprise to me. The only surprise was that my father said that it would be our last move. Ever. So now, I'm gonna be stuck in the seemingly dreary little town of Forks with nothing but my parents and my puppies. In reality they arent puppies at all, here about a year old pitbulls, and they're twins, Joey and Jason. They're the only boys I have thought of as cute.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Present Day.

"Kaori, sweetie, wake up!" My mother yells down the stairs. I sit up, and look around. Where am I?! Oh. Yeah, we moved again. I took the basement as my room, and the extra bedroom upstairs as my music room. Besides with the basement, I get my own kitchenette and almost everything else. We stayed up all night unpacking and getting organized. And now, because my parents are merciless and won't let me stay at home, they're sending me to school. At least it's Friday.

I jump down from my upper bunk, causing Joey and Jason to stir in the lower bunk. When I got them, I just let them sleep in the lower bunk because I never used it. I walk to the small bathroom in the corner, undress, and get in the shower. I am so nervous. All of these people have grown up together, gone to kindergarten together, hell they were probably all born the same day or something. All I can think about is that, and wonder if they have a photography class. Ah well, we'll see when we get there, shan't we?

I get out and wrap myself in a towel, the. Walk over to my closet. Which is actually surprisingly really large. Which is unsurprisingly really perfect. I put on faded blue jeans with a couple holes, a white tube top, then a loose, flowy yellow tank top. I like yellow, it's my favorite color, it reminds me of sunshine. Next I put on orange and yellow high tops and grab a white boyfriend cardigan. I practically throw my hair into a messy bun, take off my glasses and put in contacts, then choose a pair of red over the head headphones from my rainbow selection. When I walk back over to my kitchen, I stuff a sata andagi in my mouth off of a plate that my mom probably brought down. "Yum." I say as I chew on the pastry covered in powdered sugar. I grab the last two, and go upstairs.

"Good morning Kaori." My father says from the table. "Morning papa, mama." I say, and sit down next to him. My mother sits down a plate of waffles in front of me and a bowl of rice in front of my father. "Thank you." We say simultaneously. "So, Kaori, are you nervous?" My father asks as he drizzles honey over the rice. I shrug, "What for?" "I have you signed up for orchestra, band, soccer, and cheerleading." My mom says. I look up, surprised, "Cheerleading? That's new." She smiles, "Yes, I figured until we found a dance studio, you could do that." I nod, "Okay." "The tryouts for soccer are at 3:15 and Cheerleading at 4:10." She says, looking at me with a face that says, "You better not forget little one." I nod, and shove the last piece of waffle in my mouth. "Okay, I'm gonna go now, see you guys later." I say, and get up from he table. I go to the door where my board and my backpack is, and start to skate towards the school. I put on my headphones, and Breathing by Jason Derulo comes on. Of course, I have no idea what he means, because I've never been in a romantic relationship. And the whole missing someone all the time, I don't think I'd ever be in that situation.


	2. Chapter 2: Friends

As I skate up to the door of the school, people are staring, but I just ignore them. When I get to the door, I stop and pick up my board. Before I can start walking again, someone is next to me. "Hi I'm Eric Yorkie." He says quickly. I smile at him, "Hi I'm Kaori Aragaki." "Kah-or-ee." He says slowly, "Thats a pretty name." "Thanks." He nods, "Yeah, I have to warn you though the school is kinda busy packed right now, the kids from LaPush are here, because the school on the res is being remodeled." He says. I nod, "Okay." "I can take you to get your schedule." He offers, pausing and looking down at me. "Um, alright." "Okay the office is over here, lets go."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

My first class is band, and I played the piccolo because that's the spot they needed filled. After that was orchestra, and they had me play the cello. The instructor said I could play whatever I felt like in that class, because there's an event amount of violins and cellos. My next class is history, and Eric meets me outside of the door. "Hey, I noticed you have history next, and so do I, so I could show you where it is." He says quickly. "Do you always talk that fast?" I ask, cocking my head. He laughs, and a boy with pale blond hair and blue eyes appears, "Yeah. Yeah he does. I'm Mike Newton." He says, and shakes my hand. "So you both do." He nods, "Pretty much." Then, I notice people sorta clear the hallway and things get quiet. I look behind me and see six muscular, tall overall scary looking boys coming down the hallway. Only one of them is smiling, and he's pretty much skipping while the rest are strutting. "Whoa. They're huge... And scary." I say quietly. "They're the 'popular' people from LaPush." Mike says with a slight frown on his face, and using air quotes. "You jelly of their muscles?" I ask, laughing. "Jelly?" Eric asks laughing. "Jealous. Duhh." I say, as we walk towards history.

"Where did you live before this?" Mike says. "Los Angeles. I'm going to miss the warmth." I say. "Oh. That's cool." Mike says. I nod, and sit down in a desk. "Ms. Aragaki, please introduce yourself to the class." The teacher says from his desk, his head buried in the book. I roll my eyes and get up. "Hi, my name is Kaori." I say, waving with a small smile on my face. "Tell us a bit about yourself." He says. His voice is so freakishly monotone! "I'm came here from L.A, I like to dance and I play soccer." I say slowly. "Thank you." I nod and sit down in my chair again. A girl with tan skin and pretty brown eyes leans over the aisle, "Hi I'm Kim, I'm going out for the soccer team, are you?" I smile, "Yeah, maybe we can go together." "Yeah, sure, I'll meet you by the fields after school okay?" I nod, "Cool, thanks." I say. She nods, "Yeah, sure, anytime." She says and turns back around in her seat.

My next class was English, and I was sitting next to a girl that was small and reminded me a lot of a pixie or a fairy or something. And she was staring at me perceptively until I got tired of it. It took like five minutes. When I turn towards her I gasp... She's strange... There's something a little off about her. Or maybe my visions acting up again. "Hi I'm Alice Cullen." She says, and sticks her hand out. I shake it slowly, and she notices my hesitance. "Umm.. Kaori." "Is there something wrong?" She asks, cocking her head and still holding my hand in her freezing grasp. "Um, no, it's just-it's just that.. No." I say quietly. "Would you like to sit by me and my friends at lunch?" I nod silently.

I have only seen someone like her once before. And my parents practically swept me away and told me my vision needed to be checked-which it did. But that's not what alarmed me. It was what was inside of the man; what's inside of Alice.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Lunch.

I follow Alice and her boyfriend, Jasper into the lunchroom quietly, clutching my books to my chest. They sit down at a table by a window, in a secluded part of the lunchroom. "Kaori, this is Edward, Bella, Rosalie, and Emmett," she says, then looks directly at Edward, cocking an eyebrow. He glances at me, and squints, seeming to concentrate. "Um, hi." I murmur. I'm freaking out. All of these people are the same! Except for Bella, she's normal. I mean it's not even their pale skin that bothers me, I'm pretty pale myself. It's not the glittering topaz eyes, not even the prettiness; the beauty I guess. It's just them. If you understand what I'm saying. I sit my books down, "Um Alice, I'm gonna go get lunch." I say, dumping my bag next to my chair. "Okay." She says, smiling.

I walk swiftly towards the line, my head down. And then my head rams right into a wall, and I fall hard on my bottom. "Ohmygod." I say, rubbing my forehead. "I'm so sorry! Are you okay? Please tell me I did not hurt you. Sam will kill me." Someone says quickly. All of a sudden a really... _Cute_ boy is crouching front of me. His eyes widen and then he just starts to stare. I blush, but I don't really tell him to stop staring at me... Cuz _I'm staring at him_... Because he's really... _Cute_. Eventually, he snaps out of it and beams at me sticking his hand out. "I'm Seth Clearwater." He says. I smile at him, "Kaori Aragaki." I say and take his hand. He starts to pull me up and I jump at the small spark that occurs, and start to fall over again, but, he catches me, his hands on either of my arms. "Are you okay?" He asks again. I nod, a bit surprised at my clumsiness. "Peachy." I murmur. He laughs, and it become the loudest thing in the lunch room. I find myself smiling too; he is _really Attractive_. He's like... _hot_. He has the most adorable dimples and large, deep, chocolate brown eyes; I swear I could look into those eyes all day. When he stops laughing, my mouth practically flies open and I curse it as I blurt, "You are really cute." A blush quickly covers my cheeks, way to ruin it! Creep him out! His eyes widen, "You really think so? Well I think that's you're the prettiest girl in here. In the whole world." He says confidently, his smile growing considerably larger. I look at the ground, I bet you that I'm cherry red. I clamp my hand over my mouth when I start giggling, my eyes wide. I just giggled at something a boy said. Ohmygod. This is so strange. I look up when he removes his hands off of my arms; all of a sudden, I'm sorta cold. He blushes, "Sorry, I didn't realize that-um I forgot-I didn't mean to." He stutters, gesturing with his hands. I shrug, smiling, "Its okay." He beams, "Cool, were you getting lunch?"

I nod, and he walks with me to the lunch line. I grab a tray and get two slices of pizza, a brownie, pudding and an apple. Then I grab a chocolate milk. When I turn around, Seth has a tray piled high with food and maybe four chocolate milks tucked under his arm. My eyes widen, "Whoa." He shrugs, smiling, "What can I say? I'm a growing boy." I laugh, "it doesn't look like you can grow anymore. You're like six eight or something." "Six eight and a half." He says, cocking an eyebrow, "The half is important." I laugh again and we start to walk back towards the tables. "Where were you sitting?" He asks. I point to the Cullen's table, and he sighs, "Well.. I guess I'll see you later." He says somewhat quietly. "Of course you will." I say, looking up at him, smiling. He grins back, "Okay. It was awesome meeting you Kaori."

Okay that sounded really amazing.

"It was nice meeting you too. See you around, Seth." I say. I walk a little reluctantly towards the Cullen's table, feeling a really really strange tugging in my stomach. And trust me I've felt weird things, but this, is completely new and weirder than anything else I've felt. And the weirdest part? I'm kinda missing Seth-and he's just across the room. And don't forget the fact I just met him! I glance back at him, to see him smiling at me. I grin, and continue walking towards the Cullen table.

When I sit down, they all look like they're trying to contain laughter and not breathe at the same time. "So you met Seth." Bella says. I look up, blushing, "Um yeah... I feel like a clumsy idiot." That seems to trigger something, and they all burst out laughing, causing my embarrassment to worsen. "It's okay Kaori, I'm clumsy too." Bella says, smiling. I smile, "Thanks."

When I'm almost done eating, Edward starts talking. "So.. You have a gift?" My eyes widen, and I stiffen, then squint up at him, "Are you referring to the skateboard my parents bought me? And if so, are you a stalker or something?" I say, trying to play off my shock. Emmett seems to be the only one that finds that funny, and his booming laughter fills the lunch room. "Kaori, sweetie, I think you know what we mean." Alice says quietly. I put my spoon down, and readjust myself in my seat. This is serious. They might know my secret! But how?! I put on the best serious face I can, and look up at Edward; since he seems to be the leader. "Tell me whats up with you guys first." I say. Emmett stops laughing, and Bella's eyes widen. "It's a secret." Rosalie says, squinting at me from across the table. "Oh, yeah? Well I have secrets too. And I think mine are best kept as secrets."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

It turns out that I have eight period with Kim, and we really hit it off. I convinced her to tryout for Cheerleading with me, and she told me all about her boyfriend, Jared; It was a study hall. And then she asked me about Seth. My eyes widen, and I blush, "Um.. Yeah, I met him." "Whattaya think of him?" She asks casually, twisting the top of her pen. "He's really nice." I say, absentmindedly rubbing my neck. She grins, "Extremely nice?" I nod, "Extremely... Tell me more about Jared." I say, dying to change the subject. That starts her gushing again, and by the end if the hour, I feel like I have a bunch if mini Jared and Kim's running around in my head and stomping on my brain cells; holding hands of course. When the bell rings, we jump up quickly and walk out of the room. Who must be Jared and Seth are outside. Then I realize that Seth was the happy one in the group of the mad looking boys, and Jared was the one rolling his eyes at Seth and trying not to smile. "Hi I'm Jared." He says, sticking his hand out. I shake it, "Trust me, I know alllllll about you." He grins, "Oh yeah?" I nod, "Really." "Hi Kaori." Seth says, grinning. I smile, "Hey Seth." Then I do something that I think surprises everyone-I wrap my arms around him and hug him tightly. He hugs me back, just as tight, maybe tighter, but still extremely gentle. I have never, ever hugged a boy outside of my family-whoa, he smells really good. I pull back quickly, blushing like an idiot-that I am! "Sorry, I just.." "It's fine!" Seth says, shrugging, his eyes sparkling, "I like hugs."

He is sooo cute.

Kim and I go into the girls locker room, and change. The clothes I brought are a pair of electric green soccer shorts and a pink tank top. When we go out to the soccer field, the coach has us run two miles. I try not to run too fast... Cuz I'm weird and if I focus too hard.. The wind will carry me. And there's plenty of it. It's after the two miles that I realize that Jared and Seth stayed and are sitting in the bleachers. After, we do plenty of drills and a scrimmage. The coach picked Kim and I as a forward in the scrimmage, and we play great together. She made five goals and I made three. And then together we made maybe six assists. And as much as we seemed to dominate the other half of the girls, they were right up the with us, and we were tied at the end. Then, the coach did something surprising. He stood in front of the us, checking things off on his clipboard. "So. After seeing you all play fluidly as a team, I'd have a hard time cutting any of you. And to be truthful, none of you really need to be cut. So this is the team for this year." He says. Kim and I glance at each other, grinning. "Go on, do your whole girl squealy thing." He says, continuing to stare at the clipboard. We cheer, jumping up in the air, and high-fiving each other. "First practice Monday at 4:30." He yells as we run off the field. Kim and I run to the bleachers, smiling and laughing. I hi-five Seth, and Kim jumps into Jared's lap and they start making out. My eyes widen, "They do that often?" I ask quietly. "Yup. Definitely." Seth says as we turn around and face the other way.

We take maybe a five minute break before rushing into the gym for the Cheerleading tryouts. I get to the gym first, and see my mom sitting in the bleachers. My eyes widen, she cannot see me with Seth. So I jog towards a corner in the gym. What was I thinking anyway?! Getting that close to a boy when I know it'll only end in disaster?! And yeah, that wasn't even close, I know! The closest I can be to a boy is... Wait! I can't be! At all! And what was I thinking when I was being all chummy with Mike and Eric?! I can hang with them either!

Kim kneels next to me, "What was that?" She Hisses. My mom is here. I'm not allowed to hang with boys. At all." I say, looking over at her. "Oh no. Seriously? Seth's gonna be crushed." She whispers. "What? What do you mean?" I ask, sitting back on my feet. "He was um.. He was really looking forward to being friends with you." "Oh. Tell him I'm really sorry. He seems really awesome. I wish I could hang out with him." I murmur quietly. "So you're not even gonna give it a try?" She asks. "Kim, I don't think you understand. I can't. Like not in the least bit. And it's really sad because we had a really good... I dunno connection." Kim looks at me sadly, and I smile slightly and get up. I walk to the center of the mat and start stretching, doing my best not to look at my mom or Seth.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"So, how was school?" My mom asks as we drive home. "It was good." "Did you make any friends?" "Um yeah, Kim Alice, and Bella... And maybe a girl named Rosalie. Not really sure yet." I say, looking out if the window. "Alice Cullen?" She asks. I nod, "how did you know?" "She came and talked to me during tryouts." My eyes widen, "Seriously?! Mama, they're trying to get me to tell them!" I shriek. "Yes honey, I know, don't worry about it. We'll take care of it." "Mom they're different. They-they have-" "I know little one, don't worry about it. All will end well."


	3. Chapter 3: Freak

The next day.  
I wake up with a dogs tongue on my face, licking my cheek. I groan, "Joey get off." I murmur. He licks me one last time, then jumps off of me. I sit up and realize that I fell asleep on my couch, my contacts still in, because apparently, I couldn't make it five steps to my bed. Jason and Joey are sitting next to each other, their tails thumping, and tongues hanging out. "I bet you're hungry, aren't you?" I ask them. They cock their heads, continuing to stare at me. "Okay, Come on Joey. Jason, come." I say as I walk towards the kitchen. They follow me eagerly, and I grab the dog food out of one of the cabinets. I pour them each a bowl, and then pour them some water. I open the fridge, and grab the milk, there's a note on it,

**Morning Kaori, your father and I left for work. And just to warn you, the Cullen's are coming over for dinner at about 5:30. Have a good day!**

**-Mom**

Great. The Cullen's. They're probably gonna spend the whole dinner trying to figure us out. I pour a bowl of cereal and sit down at the counter, watching Joey and Jason eat.

When they're done, they come and stand in front of me, barking. "Alright already! I get it! You wanna go out! Jeez!" I say, getting up and putting my bowl in the sink. I quickly get in the shower, washing all away all of the sweat and dirt from yesterday. When I get out, I wrap myself in a towel and walk over to my closet. I put on light blue jeans, a sky blue t-shirt and a pink and purple boxy checked shirt over it. I go back into the bathroom and put my hair into pigtails, and comb my bangs back into a small tease. I put on my necklace that has two silver k's on a pink chain. Then I pull on black converse with neon pink laces, grab my white headphones and my board.

"Joey, Jason, come!" I say, as I go up the stairs. They run around me, and stand by the door while I pull on my black polar fleece. I put their leashes on, and open the door. I stand on my board, turn my music on, but keep the headphones around my neck, and tell the dogs to go. They take of running down the street, and I just let them pull me. When the tugging that had become a constant thing since yesterday starts to shrink, I look up at my surroundings. We're passing a beach, where maybe two people are sitting around a fire. Which is understandable; it's freezing. Then there are about five people playing football further down the beach. Five shirtless people. They know they're cold, I mean, come on; how can they not be?

"KAORI!" Someone yells. My eyes widen, and I look towards the beach again. A girl is running towards me, and as she comes closer, I see that it's Kim. I smile, and pull on the dogs leashes, causing them to pull up and stop. I hop off of the board, and she gives me a side hug. "Hey, what're you doing on the res?" She asks. "I was taking the dogs for a run." "Oh, they're adorable! What're their names?" She coos, kneeling in front of them. They start to lick her face, and I pull them back a little, "Their names are Jason and Joey." She glances up at me, "Which one is Joey?" "The one with the white patch on his head." I say, pointing. "Ohh, okay." She says, and continues to pet them. "What are you doing on the beach? It's freezing." I say, looking over at it again. "We have a bonfire ever Saturday, and sometimes on Friday." She says, and stands up. "Who's we?" She grins, "Seth, Jared-" I can't help but interrupt her, "Seth's here?" She giggles, and nods. "Do you wanna see him?" She asks slyly. "Well yeah." She grabs my hand and I flip my board up and tuck it under my arm. Halfway there, I remember that I can't see him, and panic, "Wait! Kim stop! Kim, seriously! Let gooooo! I can't I'll get in huge trouble! You know I'll get in huge trouble!" I hiss at her, trying to get out of her death grip. "Please spare my life!" I shriek. She laughs, "Aw come on, he misses you." She says, still laughing. I stop trying to go in the other direction and stand up straight, "Really?" I say, my mouth agape. She turns around and grins at me, "Yeah, he texted me all night asking me everything I knew about you. All night." "Aww, that's really cute." I mumble. "Yeah, exactly, come on; you know you wanna see him!" I shrug, "Fine, as long as I'm home by three." She grins, "I knew you would come." I roll my eyes, "No you didn't." "But what about what you said yesterday?" "I take it back. I'll hang with you guys." I say defiantly with my chin in the air. "What if you get in trouble?" "Yolo?" I ask shrugging. She laughs, "If you say so."

When we get to the fire, five guys are standing around it, their arms crossed. "Where's Jared and Seth?" I whisper to Kim. She shrugs, "Guys calm down. It's only Kaori." She says, rolling her eyes. One of them starts laughing, and the others smile slightly. "Why is he laughing?" I whisper. "Because of how much Seth talked about you; he practically described you like a Greek goddess." I blush, and look at her questioningly. "Yes, really."

"I'm Sam." The biggest one says. His voice is sooo deep. I wave, smiling. "The one laughing on the ground is Paul, this Is Jacob, Quil, and Embry." He says, pointing each of them out. I wave again, "Nice to meet you." "Yeah, you don't know how nice it is to meet you. Seth met you yesterday and was talking about you so much, we thought he was just being delusional again. But then, Jared said he met you too, so we knew Seth didn't go completely insane. We were worried." Quil says. I laugh, "No I'm quite real." "Alright Seth, you win; she's adorable." A female voice says to the right of us. I look around Kim to see Seth and a female that's slightly taller then him. And soo she's a giant. But so are tSeth smiles at me, and I smile back, waving. He grabs the girl's wrist and drags her along while he starts to walk faster. When he's in front of me, he looks down at me, smiling slightly. "Ummm.. Can I hug you?" He asks quietly. I look at him strangely, "Um yeah?" He pulls me closer and wraps his arms completely around me at the same time, and buries his face in my neck. I frown a little, "Seth are you alright?" "Yeah I am now." He says softly. I I blush; he doesn't mean what he thinks I mean; right?

When he finally releases me, they are staring at me, smiling, and I look at the sky; pretty colors! Ok I'm just kidding, but that's awkward. "I'm Leah, Seth's sister." The really tall girl says. Of course she is; now I'm even more embarrassed. A woman with scars down the right side of her body smiles at me, "Hi I'm Emily." I smile at her, but I can't speak. She reminds now so much of home. When I realize that I might be staring, I blink, "I'm sorry.. You just remind me of home." I say quietly. "How so?" Jacob asks seriously, his arms crossed. "Well my grandmother has scars similar to yours... But when it happened to her, it wasn't an accident." I say, gesturing with my hands. "What?" Sam asks, glaring. "It was supposed to happen." I say, a little flustered.

Just shut up, Kaori! You've already said too much, you idiot!

"Um, never mind." I murmur uncomfortably. That's right, Aragaki, just give away your. family's history! Because you were only told your whole life not to tell anyone! Jeez.

"Hey.. Kaori, can we talk?" Seth asks quietly. "Yeah." I say quickly, eager to get away from their stares. Kim takes the dogs, and we walk away, towards the shore line. "What's up?" I ask, looking up at him. "Yesterday, when you said that you couldn't be friends with me... How come?" He asks quietly.

Wait he heard that?

I look up at a huge rock, and as if reading my mind, Seth picks me up and sits me on top. I swear I have never blushed so much in my life. He jumps on the rock, and I lay my head on his shoulder... It just seems right. "What I meant is that my parents don't allow me to talk to boys." "Well I don't want you to get in trouble because of me." He says, his eyebrows furrowed. "I won't. Because I won't get caught. Besides, I like hanging out with you." I say quietly. "Kaori." "Period."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

At about two-thirty when I'm about to leave, my dad calls me. "Kaori, change of plans. The Cullen's are coming over for dinner, you know that right?" "Yes papa." I say quietly. "Well you're gonna need to stay out of the house. It's gonna be strictly business." "Okay." "Go to one of your friends houses, alright?" "Papa, just please don't tell them about me." "Kaori, I can't guarantee anything." "Papa please." I plead. "We will say what needs to be said." I sigh, and put the phone away.

"They already think I'm a freak anyway. Once they find out the truth, they'll realize the don't know half of it." I groan, and hide my face in my hands. "What?" Seth asks. I look over at him, "I really need to shut up." "No you don't." "Trust me I do."

"Soccer!" Someone yells. I clap my hands, "Come on!" I yell, and grab Seth's hand. I jump off of the rock, drag him towards everyone else. I jump up and grab the ball out of Jacobs open palm, and start juggling it. "Um... Not pro soccer." Paul says. "Yeah, pro soccer. He's just mad cuz he can't play." Embry says, crossing his arms and smirking. "You know what-" "Alright, lets play." Sam says, interrupting Paul. "KIM'S ON MY TEAM!" I yell. "So Jared, Seth, Quil, Leah, and Paul are on the other team." Sam says. I look at my new team, Jacob, Embry, Sam, and Kim. I look around the makeshift field, with small goals maybe twenty five yards apart.

"Kim, you start off, and pass it to me, ok?" I say quietly as her, Sam and I line up in front. She shrugs, "Alright." She passes it to me, and I start dribbling towards the goal, and all of a sudden, Seth is in front of me, grinning. I smile at him sweetly, and he winks at me. _HE WINKS AT ME_!

So... I wink back.

His mouth drops open a little, and I run past him, laughing. When I'm halfway to the goal, Paul appears. I pass the ball to Kim, she passes it to Sam, and Sam dribbles for a while. Meanwhile, Paul and Seth double team me, trying to make it impossible for me to go by. So I back up, and them take a running start at them. They look confused for a moment, and I slide between Paul's legs. I get up, and Sam passes it to me. I kick the ball into at an angle that it looks like it'll bounce off the net and not go in, but in reality, it bounces off it and goes in. Quil didn't even move because of how iffy it looked. "QUIL! REALLY?!" Paul yells at him. He shrugs, "Did it look like it was gonna go in to you?!" He yells back, waving his arms. "Well it did!" I say, giggling. Kim high fives me, and then I take my shoes off, casting them to the side. "It's sand so I'm gonna play in socks, and I'm hot, so..." I say, and peels off my jacket and plaid shirt.

"Whoa! Kaori, _what's on your arm_?!" Seth yells, and comes towards me quickly. I glance down at my arm and scream when I see a blood red tattoo forming on my forearm. It's two dragons, bound together, their bodies twisting around my arm and each other, and at the crook of my elbow, flames shoot out of their mouths, traveling up and covering the rest of my right arm and shoulder. My parents said that this might happen. And they also said since I already had so many, that I might not get one unique to myself. They were so wrong. I sit down on the ground, pull up m pants leg, and sure enough, on my ankle, the three horizontal silver marks that circle my ankle are being weaved with a blood red design. I clench my teeth in pain, squeezing my eyes shut. This always hurts like hell. It turns out to be different lines in between an when to look at the marks overall, you see a lion.

"I have to go I really have to go." I say quickly, and scramble off of the ground. I grab my clothes, and run towards the picnic table. I snatch the leashes out of Emily's hand, and grab my board. When I start to run towards the street, someone grabs my wrist. "Kaori, wait." Seth says. I shake my head, "No, no, no! I have to go!" I say, and run towards the street again. The dogs run with me, and they seem to understand when I put my board down, and get on, because they start _sprinting_ home.

When I get there, I open the door and drop my things. I run into the kitchen, and the people at the table look up. "It happened! You said it wouldn't happen! And it happened! And now all my friends think I'm a _freak_!" I yell, stomping and gesturing wildly with my hands. At the same time, rain pounds hard on the roof, and tears fall out of my eyes. "You make me pretend like I'm normal, but I'm not! _I'm a freak_!" I yell, as my tears escalate to sobbing. "It won't work on her." My mother says. "And you're not even paying me any attention! Don't you understand it _hurts_?! Don't you care?! You can't just ignore me!" I yell, stomping my foot again.

All of a sudden I realize that it does hurt. It hurts so much! My head is pounding, and I feel as if its being cut in half. I grasp my head firmly, as an shrill noise explodes inside of my head. My eyes roll into the back of my head and the last thing I remember is falling into freezing marble arms.


	4. Chapter 4: Kaoru

When I awoke, there were blurry colors all over the ceiling.

Then I put my glasses on.

I screamed when I saw a ton of different colored mini animals floating around my room. They're shining and shimmering and don't look quite real. I look down at my tattoo, which is glowing white, and watch as a yellow lion manifests around my hand, then jumps off. I just want them to go away.

They vanish. Out of thin air. They're just gone.

Now I'm really scared. The tattoo starts to glow red, and a larger crimson red dragon is soon floating above my arm. Its about twelve inches long and has four inches width, where as all the others were maybe four inches long with a two inch width. I scream again, and soon enough, my parents are running down the stairs. They stare at the dragon and my arm open mouthed, and I jump out of the bed, and land on-the dragon. It came under me, and is holding me in mid air. What the hell?!

It feels so real. I feel as if I'm standing on sharp scales that are moving, rippling over the dragons skin. But it's not real! I'm hallucinating!

When I wanted them to vanish-they vanished.. So if I want it to put me down.. Will it?

**_Put me down_**

I think simply. They dragon floats down to the floor, and I step off slowly. "It's energy projection." My father says slowly and quietly. "What?!" "It's energy projection and manipulation," He repeats again. "Your energy-this is just a wild guess-but I'm thinking last night your energy was fused with your thinking and your emotions. The color is the emotion.. And the animal, I'm not really sure. But if I'm correct, you're controlling that with your thoughts, right?" I shrug, still terrified and not understanding half of what he's saying. "Are you mad?" He asks quietly. "I freaking _terrified_!" I screech. "Maybe when she's afraid, it'll project the opposite, because dragons didn't feel fear." My mother says thoughtfully. "Right now is not the time to be discussing our legends!" I say impatiently. "Kaori, listen, you've been marked. Twice. When our people develop their own ability themselves, you get marked. That, is our clans symbol." My father says, pointing to my arm. "And we never told you this, but the three silver marks on your ankle are not normal, sweetie. And the lion.. Would explain the animals... But no ones sure if it means you'll develop another ability or not because of the extra marking." "No! I don't want a other one, it'll make me more of a freak! My friends are probably scared of me!" I yell. "If you're talking about who we think, no they're not. They're not afraid of much." My father says matter-of-factly. "That's not the point! Just tell me how to control these things!" I screech. My fathers phone rings, and he answers it quickly. When he hangs up, he turns to me, "Go get dressed. We're going to the airport." "Who are we going to pick up?" My parents glance a each other, "Your cousin, aunt, uncle, and brother." My mother says. "My _brother_?!" I yell. "What?!" "He started showing his abilities early, so we let your grandmother raise him. He is very gifted. But he has not been marked." "You guys are really powerful and you're not marked." I say quietly. "Exactly. Can you imagine how powerful you and your brother could be together?"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

I get dressed in a simple yellow hoodie and blue jeans. Then I put on black converse and leave my hair down after combing it. Before I go upstairs, I roll up my right sleeve, and think of.. A penguin. A green penguin soon appears, waddling across the table.

**_Dance_**.

The penguin starts to slap his feet against the table, flapping his flippers. I laugh quiety, and he slowly changes from green to pink.

**_Change colors._**

He seems to glow for a minute, and then the pink light is absorbed in him, and he starts to shine and sparkle, turning various shades of blue and purple, waddling across the counter. I put my hand out and he slowly waddles into it. I lift my hand up to my face. He looks so see through. But it's a solid thing-_penguin_-it even has some weight. I put it in my pocket and it makes and actual bulge, and sticks it's flippers on the outside, sticking his head out.

It makes me feel happier, this little penguin. If my dad was right, and these are my emotions, maybe they can change them too. Maybe it depends on the animal.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

So we drive to the airport with me playing with the penguin, trying to figure out how to work it. My father was right, they are controlled by my thoughts. And they grow larger the stronger the emotion-and with each emotion, they change color. So far, I've learned that red is anger, gray is sadness, pink and yellow are happiness and when I'm afraid, a darker shade of red shows up, it's courage or something.

We go into the terminal, and I think about what my brother could look like. What he's actually like, you know, his personality. Whether he likes me or whether he hates me. The penguin is dark red now. And I find if I'm afraid, and it's dark red, it doesn't make me feel afraid anymore. The first people I see are my aunt and uncle, my aunt tall and willowy and my uncle short and beefy. Yeah; perfect match. My cousin is in my aunts arms, as usual. She like changes ages or something. Then I see him. He's got crystal blue eyes, and long hair pulled into a ponytail. His jaw is strong, and my god-he stole my face. Well of course he looks more like a guy-but _he stole my face!_ He's tall and muscular, and on his arm is the distinct blue marking of someone who has found their other half. Which explains the blue eyes. In our clan, finding your other half changes everything about you.

A girl that's taller then me is by his side, holding his hand. She has jet black hair and crystal blue eyes-did I mention it changes their eye color too? And they get the mark? He smiles when he sees me, and waves. I wave back half heartedly.

_He has my face._

When they're standing in front of us, we study each other carefully. "Kaori, this is your twin brother, Kaoru." My mother says. "Hi." I say quietly. "Hey! Mom-she's more adorable then you said!" He exclaims, and pulls me into a bone breaking hug. Okay; he acts just like me. I hug him back, smiling. Yup it all makes since now.

Not really.

"Ow! What the hell?!" He exclaims suddenly. I watch as the same crimson red tattoo on my arm is formed on his. My ankle starts to throb, and I squeeze my eyes shut as the mark starts to reform itself. My feet were already _not_ touching the ground, but when Kaoru's feet lift off the ground, I panic. My arm glows white though the sweater, and a red dragon appears.

**_Get us down_**!

It starts to change form, and soon it's a bear, and pushes our shoulders down until my feet are touching the ground. I release myself from my brothers arms, and look around. I scream, covering my mouth when I see things floating in the air. "KAORU!" I yell, terrified. The bear grows in size, and Kaoru opens his eyes. The things drop halfway to the ground, but are still floating. He looks at me, "Its you too. Let go of my hand Kaori." He says firmly. I didn't realize I was holding it. As I drop his hand, everything falls to the ground, and the bear is practically sucked back into my arm. "We need to get out of here." My father says. "I can help." The girl next to Kaoru says. "Everyone hold hands." I very-what I think is wise-choose not to hold Kaoru's hand. We blur out of the terminal, and less than a second later, we're by our car. I glance at Kaoru, and then we all get into the car, and my father drives home very quickly.

I take the penguin out of my pocket, looking down at it.

**_Calm me the hell down._**

It grows about two inches, and turns olive green. I feel peace wash over me, and breath in deeply. "My name is Akari." The girl says, sticking her hand out. "Kaori." I say quietly. "Can.. Can I see that?" "I have a better idea, what's your favorite animal?" I ask, trying to lighten my mood. "Um.. A hummingbird I guess." She says slowly. I roll my sleeve up, and concentrate on my energy, drawing it in. My arm starts to glow white and I can feel everyone watching. When I open my eyes, there's a orange hummingbird floating in front of me, with a wingspan of maybe six inches. I raise my eyebrow,

**_Change_**.

It becomes smaller, and changes to pink. "Just.. Reach out and take it I guess." I say quietly. She stares at me, "That was amazing." I shrug, "Its creepy as hell." She gently takes him in his hands, and I flinch, "Ow!" She glances at me and, readjusts him, and I hiss as my whole body throbs in pain. "Akari, please release it." My father says sternly. "It's an extension of Kaori and it's limits have not been fully tested yet. And apparently, the animal cannot be in another's hands." She releases it, and it flies, by itself, back into the flames on my shoulder. I sigh shakily. "Kaori, I'm so sorry, I didn't know-" "it's fine Akari, no one did." I interrupt her.

When we get home, they decide to hold a whole freaking meeting about what happened at the airport. All I know is it completely drained me of energy, and I wasn't able to form anymore animals. I fell asleep at the dining room table.

I wake up with a small vine tickling my face. I sit up quickly, and Kaoru laughs from below me. I sigh, and lay back down. "Nope, get up, time for school." He says. "Idontwannago." I say into the pillow.

Then, I really think about it. And I reaaaallllyyy don't wanna go. The Cullen's were there when I spazzed, the tattoo thing at the beach, and when Seth tried to stop me from leaving and I did anyway. They have to hate me for that. And Seth; what does Seth think of me? That I'm a freak? I mean that would be completely true and everything, but it would still hurt. I really shouldn't care about what a boy thinks of me; that's what my mom would tell me. But I do and I don't know why. What if-what if I like him?! That's so wrong! I'm not allowed to do that! But they're my emotions... Why does it matter anyway?! He probably wouldn't ever like me. He was probably just being nice because I'm the new girl. Extremely nice and complementing.

"KAORI! GET UP!" My cousin yells, coming down the stairs. At the moment, she looks about my age. But that could change within the second. Her name is Kiki, and no matter the age, her hair is always long and her eyes the brightest green. I sit up, and put my glasses on, glaring at her. "I'm up." "So have you discovered boys yet?" She asks, wiggling her eyebrows, and sitting down on my couch. "W-what?" I sputter. She rolls her eyes, "Come on, Kaori! Don't act like you _haven't_ fallen head over heels for some boy." I frown at her and get out of my bed, "Stay out of my head, Kiki." "Kaori, you like someone?! As in a boy?! As in like like?!" My brother hisses from the lower bunk. "No. I do not." "She's lying." "And if I do I have no recollection of it." I say, and go into the bathroom. "LIAR!"

I take a long shower, waiting till I'm sure that Kiki's gone, and then getting out. My brother is still in the lower bunk, except he's completely dressed and playing with a rock. Sounds boring, but really, he's making it float; everywhere. Up, down, left, right. With a small hand movement, I take it from his grasp and put it on the counter. He frowns at me, and the rock starts floating in the air again. I wave my hand down, and down goes the rock. "Party pooper." He mutters, and sits back. "Not in my room." "Our room." I roll my eyes, "Whatever." I go into my closet, and frown when I see Kaoru's bags on the floor, clothes falling out.

Messy boy.

I pick up a pair of red and black vertical striped pants, a tight black v-neck t-shirt and a jean vest.

"You're wearing that?" Kaoru says scornfully.

"Yes?"

"Those pants are tiny."

"They're skinny jeans. Just like Akari wears."

"That's different. You're my sister."

"Does Akari have a brother?"

"Thats different too."

I roll my eyes and go back into the bathroom. "And that's cut too deep!" He yells after me. I put on the clothes anyway, laughing quietly. When I come out of the bathroom again, he's standing up, his arms crossed. And he towers over me. I glance up at him, "What?" "I'm just worried. Do you know how to control those things yet?" He says, tilting his head towards my arm. "Well if the emotion isn't too strong, I should be alright." I say. "What if that doesn't work?" "I can get rid of it the moment it appears." He frowns slightly, "The thing that happened last night... I developed telepathy. But only after we were re-united or whatever. All of my abilities are stronger when I'm with you." "So?" I ask quietly. "You strengthen people's abilities, Kaori. That's what the ankle thing is about. And you're telepathic too. But only if you're touching me. It's your other gift; the ankle thing. While you're strengthening that persons gift, you can use it too. But only if you're touching them." I shake my head, "No, that's never happened before." "It just developed last night, Kaori. When you touched me. You activated my gift and I activated yours. You're one of the strongest in our clan." He says seriously. "So are you." He sighs, rolling his eyes, "Thats not the point. But thank you. And yes, yes I am. The point is, you're constantly strengthening people's abilities now, and if you're touching that person, you can use that ability." "Can you?" He shakes his head, "No." "What _can_ you do?" He rolls his eyes again, "Do you know _how_ to have a one topic conversation?!" But he tells me anyway, "I can control earth; I guess. You know, rocks, plants, some metals, sand, rocks." "I can't do the plant thing." I interrupt him. He grins, "I know. It's uniquely mine. I can change and see people's personalities, and I can change my appearance to anyone else's. And my abilities controlled by emotions are teleporting and telepathy. That's what I was trying to tell you; your new ability is also controlled by emotion." "Okay, okay, can we talk about this later? I have a headache." I say, pouting. He raises an eyebrow, doubt written all over his face. "No, really, it's making me think too much." I say, sticking my lip out further. He rolls his eyes, "We're gonna be late, come on."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

When we get to the school, I feel as if everyone knows about my spazztastic-Saturday, and clutch Kaoru's hand tightly. He frowns down at me, and I roll my eyes. If he doesn't concentrate then nothing will start floating around. And we might not disappear, or plants won't spazz and he won't change a million faces in, like, two seconds.

Akari is holding his other hand, and Kiki is rolling her eyes, and chewing gum very loudly. I swear she wants to be a mean girl soooooo bad. She acts just like them; it's sorta pathetic since she has so much more potential. She has an accelerated IQ and everything. But, you would think she's more concerned about getting a baby by the time she's seventeen then using that potential.

Maybe it's just a coincidence that were all fifteen and some of the strongest in our clan, and maybe it's not. Our parents were some of the strongest out of their generation. And I know there are many others who are just like us; their abilities new and unheard of. But they are all where they should be; with the whole of their family in our homelands. They're considered the lucky ones and my parents were considered the dumb ones for leaving.

When I see my friends, I put my head down and try to shrink into Kaoru's side, which if course, fails. The weird thing is, they don't even look mad. Just concerned. And Seth looks absolutely miserable. I really, really don't like that. Kiki glances between Seth and I, then laughs, throwing her head back. "Really? You think you have a shot with him Kaori? That's so pathetically adorable!" Kaoru scowls at her, and I frown. "No. Happy? Stay out of my head, Kiki." I hiss at her, and pull Kaoru away. We walk to the office with Akari, who is being extremely quiet. Which is sorta weird; she didn't seem like the quiet type yesterday. I get their schedules for them, and somehow, my parents have arranged it for all of us to be in be same classes all the time. And I know exactly what they would say; "You need to stick with Kiki, Akari, and Kaoru. They are family. And when no one else treats you right, who will? Family." And I know they're right. But the only problem I have with that is the obvious fact that they don't believe in having friends that are like family. Or maybe I just don't know.

Kaoru and Akari go to find their lockers, and I go towards my first period class. I groan when I remember that Kim is in this class, because she'll most likely want answers. Answers that I, under any circumstance cannot give. When I get there, all of them are there. Seth, Jared, Jacob, Paul, Quil, Embry and Kim. I sigh, and stop in front of them. They stare at the tattoo, and I feel it start to glow. I slap my hand over it, "Please stop." I whisper quietly. "Kaori, are you okay?" Seth asks. I nod, avoiding eye contact, "Yeah, can I go into the room now?" "Kaori, what is that?" Jacob asks. I look up, a little peeved with the questions, "You guys aren't the only one with tribal tats, alright? Now let me in!" I say angrily. They look surprised, their eyebrows raised; but they move out of the way. Kaoru and Akari join me as I walk in, desperately trying to hide the glowing tattoo. Kim appears, and forces her gray hoodie into my hands, and walks away. I sigh sadly, closing my eyes tight.

I really _hate_ being a freak.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Lunch  
When we go to lunch, we sit down in a secluded corner, near a window. Then, we go to get food. When we come back, Seth, Kim, Jared.. And the rest of them are sitting down. I sigh, and roll down my sleeves. "Why are you following my sister around?!" Kaoru asks angrily after sitting his tray down. "Kaoru, stop, alright? It's not like I don't know how to talk." I say, then force him into a sitting position. I sit down next to him, and frown when Kiki sits next to Seth, grinning up at me. Seth scoots over, and she raises and eyebrow and scoots with him he glances at me, and I groan. "Kiki, you're freaking him out." She grins, and scoots impossibly closer, "In a good way?"

I know I am not supposed to do this; but she is really pissing me off! I wave my hand to the right, and the air in between Seth and Kiki blows and shes pushed off the edge of the bench. She stands up, furious, "KAORI!" She screams. My eyes widen, "omigosh, Kiki, are you alright? Did you have another spasm?" I ask, trying to look as innocent as possible. She turns to Seth, "She likes you!" I shrug, "She's delusional." Kiki straightens her skirt, and then stomps off.

Kaoru and I watch her go, laughing. Then Kaoru shoots me a warning look and I room my eyes and sit down. "Kaori, what. The. Fuck. Was that?" Paul asks slowly. "My cousin Kiki is special Ed. She has seizures and stuff." I say, without looking up. "Kaori.. Are you sure you're okay?" Seth asks quietly. I look up at him, and he look super serious and concerned. I force a smile onto my face, "No, no I'm not. But in order to get you guys to get off my case; I'll say yes. If you'll excuse me." I say quietly, and go to the bathroom.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Kim sat next to me silently all of eighth period, doodling on a notebook. "Kim you don't have to sit by me." I say quietly. "Kaori, why won't you tell us what's going on? We're really worried about you." She says quietly. "Kim, I can't." I say, staring at my hands. "Kaori, please just listen, ok? I don't know what happened Saturday, and you don't have to tell me. Trust me when I say we didn't think you were weird; we didn't even tell anyone. We were just worried. And then there's Seth. He didn't sleep for two days, and we didn't know what to do because he was absolutely paranoid. And I didn't have your number, so that's how he spent his weekend. We wouldn't mind if you abandoned us; just don't abandon Seth, alright?" I shake my head,

"I have to. I'm sorry ok?"

* * *

Please review! ((By the way I made an Instagram account for pictures of my face claims and outfits and so forth. check it out if you want to. The username is elauriejadie.))


	5. Chapter 5: Singer

Soccer practice.

I'm completely off right now; Kim is pissed at me and keeps hogging the ball, and even when someone else passes it to me I screw up. And for some reason, I completely forgot my shin guards. Smart, right?

Akari and Kiki are trying out during the practice, and Kiki has it out for me too. She's still mad because I "blew her away from her meant to be boyfriend". Yeah, no. I don't think that they would work either.

Someone makes a really bad pass and it stops maybe halfway to its target and I run for it. At the same time as Kim. I speed up, and concentrate on the ball. When I stretch my leg out to kick the ball, Kim's head collides with mine. I fall back on the ground, holding my head.

"KIM!" "KAORI!" We yell simultaneously, sitting up. She glares at me, then gets up and storms off the field. The coach watches silently as she sits down on the bleachers, next to Jared, still glaring in my direction.

"Aragaki... Um.. Get up. Go put some ice on your head." I get up quickly and blink a couple times. "I don't need any ice. I'm fine." I say shakily. "Aragaki. Don't make me yell. Go. Sit. Down. Its not a suggestion." I set my jaw, and start dribbling the ball towards the goal. "ARAGAKI!" I start jogging, pacing myself as the team assembles around me. "SIT DOWN!"

I sprint through the team, pass the coach and finally, I kick the ball as hard as I can. It soars to the goal and dents the pole, a fiery red trail behind it. After denting the pole, it shoots straight into the air, and lands in the bleachers, right next to Seth and his friends. My eyes widen, and we make eye contact before I sprint off of the field, heading towards the nearby forest.

I run blindly through the trees, ashamed and embarrassed tears stinging my eyes and blurring my vision. I know I've stressed this-but goddamit! I'm such a freak! I swear I have to be creepiest mother fucker this town has ever seen! And I've never in my life been such a bitch! This is the meanest I've ever been to anyone! I've always been the good girl! But now that we're forever stuck in this small town, I have to be the bitch! God, I screw everything up!

Why can't Kaoru be the one who freaks everyone out? Why can't he be the one to scare people and give people concussions and fall for some dude-chick way out of his league?!

Yes I just admitted that I have "fallen" for Seth even though there's nothing I can do about it! And its inexplainable too! I hardly know him-I don't even know his middle name! All I know is that I feel completely-chained to him-but not in a bad way. Kinda like a bond; a really strong one. Yeah, I said I barely know him. And I really like being around him. And that stupid, shitty, desperate... Desperation isn't there when I am.

How do feelings like this evolve in three days? I mean, I don't get it!  
Do your emotions randomly attach themselves to someone and  
resolve to never. ever. Ever let go?

Or have I just fallen for his face?!

Cuz...he's sorta gorgeous.

Or-have I found _him_? No. I couldn't have. I mean.. Wouldn't the feeling be more intense than this?! No, this is just a crush. It has to be just a crush. My grandmother told me I didn't have one-another half, a soul mate. 'Cause I'm like her-blessed and cursed. And if you're cursed how can you be blessed in the greatest way? My parents are throwing me a "betrothal birthday party" anyway. And I have to marry whoever they pick. He won't be the one, but he'll be my.. companion. Awkward, right? And my birthday is in two months. And I have to sit there in a stiff kimono with chopsticks shoved in my hair. And the shoes-don't even mention the ridiculous shoes!

I stop and look around, the animals that were plentiful just a minute ago are now scarce. I soon see why, there's a large house right smack dab in the middle of the woods. And it reminds me a lot of the Cullen's. Oh. Maybe because that's their Volvo right there.

Hmm, I wonder how much of a creeper I look like right now.

Within the second, Jasper's in front of me. Topaz eyes gone, replaced by bottomless black pits. And his soul? Even darker.. "Kaori.." He growls, "What are you doing here?" My eyes widen-who knew his voice could go from extremely velvety to extremely guttural? "We know about you. Why don't I clarify what we are for you? C'mere darlin'" he says forcefully, moving closer. I back up steadily, my hands ready. "You're lying. You have no idea what I am. Hell, Jazzy-Jazz, I have no idea what I am. Did my parents happen to tell you? Am I fully human or what?" I say taunting him, trying my best to hide my fear. "Of course you're human! Why do you think I want you?! I wouldn't if you weren't the arousin' and alluring singer I've ever seen!" I can't help it, sweat breaks out on my forehead, and my arm burns with the bright glow my arm is emitting.

Singer? What?! I've never sung for this creep!

"C'mon, Kaori. Just a taste?"

"Oh god you're insane." I whisper, my hands falling to my side.

"That's right, calm down, darlin." He says.

And suddenly, I feel _so_ calm, like today is the calmest day in my life.  
And I just wanna go home and lounge in my chair. It feels like-honey. Like swimming in honey! And then Jasper touches my wrist, and the feeling intensifies so much, I just fall over, eyelids laden with exhaustion. And I fall in his arms-I can feel everything going on-I just cannot get my eyelids to lift! Suddenly, his lips are on my neck and my eyes snap open and I push him away, pushing against his neck. He flies backwards, and I look in astonishment at my glowing red hands.

"KAORI! That's is no way to treat me! I'm bein' awfully generous! Taking some now and leaving some for later. I swear it won't hurt a bit. Just let me have some!" Jasper says, getting up, a crazed look in his eyes. "Jasper you desperately need a shrink." I whisper, backing up. He laughs, and kicks a tree root out of his path. My eyes widen, and I back up into a tree. Suddenly, a black and a sandy colored blur appear, flying into Jasper's side. He goes soaring through the air and the black blur follows. The sandy one stops, and I realize, it's a giant sand colored wolf. It's a giant furry ball of fangs and teeth and claws and fur and-huge menacing (adorable) and fearsome (stunning) brown eyes. I squeak before falling into a heap on the ground, my eyes closing.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

I wake up floating in mid air, being jostled a bit. Two arms are holding me securely and I'm snuggled into some dudes bare chest. I sit up, and my head runs right into his chin. "Ow." I murmur. "You okay, Kaori?" I look up at him, and see Seth staring down at me. "Uhh um. Yup. I'm fine. can I get down?" I say shakily. "Don't lie to me, Kaori." He says gently. "I'm scared." I whisper. "I'm sorry that happened. I don't know what got into him." He growls, "I promise it'll never happen again." He glances down at me, "I'm not scaring you am I?" He adds gently. I shake my head wordlessly. "Do you think your brother will dislike me for this?" He asks randomly. I look away from him and see my house nearby, and my brother standing outside the back door.

"Who cares. How did you find me?" He sighs, and looks away, "Well.. I was visiting the Cullen's and um.. I saw you guys outside and told him to back off and then you fainted."

He's lying to me.

No he's not.

It feels like he is, but I can't bring myself to actually believe it. Seth wouldn't lie to me.. Right?

"You didn't see the wolves?" I ask quietly. "What wolves? There were no wolves." He says, sounding strangled. "You cannot tell me that you didn't see those giant monster fur balls." I say quickly, flailing my arms. He sighs, "I didn't see any wolves, Kaori." He says quietly. "Oh. Maybe I was just that freaked out." I say doubtfully. "Seth.. What is he?" I ask quietly. He stops walking. "We're here. I'll put you down now." He says guiltily. "Seth?" "They're not human, alright? And they don't eat food and they don't sleep." He sits me down and starts walking boldly to my door. "You don't have a shirt on." I whisper. He bends down and unties something from his ankle, produces a shirt, and pulls it on.

Okaaayyy?

When we get to my door, I'm in front of him like I can protect him from my big bad father or something. My brother glares at Seth and gestures for me to go into the house. "Kaoru, he just saved me." I say gently. "From what?" He says scornfully. "A Cullen." Kaoru's eyes widen and he looks at me, and then back at Seth. "What were you doing there Kaori?!" "Well when I ran off I ended up there." The back door opens and my father steps out. He looks at all of us sternly, his arms behind his back. "Who are you and what are you doing at my house? Not to mention with my daughter?" "My name is Seth Clearwater, sir." Seth says respectfully sticking out his hand. My father glances at it, then back at him, "Kaori and Kaoru, go into the house please."

I glance at Seth apologetically, and follow Kaoru into the house, closing the door behind us. Kaoru disappears downstairs and I stay at the door, listening.

"We both know what you are capable of. And I have only one request, and if you grant it, I won't go to your alpha with a complaint." My father says, "Stay away from my daughter." Seth doesn't answer, and my father comes in closing the door behind him.

"Kaori. There has only been one rule since you became and adolescent. And it was to simply stay away from boys. I didn't believe that was too much to ask, Seeing as how you would only come back heartbroken and angry, your mother and I didn't want to deal with the extra headache. But since you have disregarded our wishes, I'm going to take dancing away from you until you earn my trust again. You will focus on your abilities and studies." My eyes widen, "Dad no!" "Dancing is a privilege and until you deserve it you will not be doing it!"

My eyes fill with tears, and I run downstairs, rain already pounding on the roof. I lay down in my bed and carelessly let the storm rage on while my emotions do the same.


	6. Chapter 6: Staying Away

The Next Day  
First Period

While I was tuning my piccolo, Kim sits down next to me, her flute still in its case. "Hi Kaori." "Hi Kim." I say quietly without looking up.

"You ok? You look sad."  
"I am sad."  
"Why?"  
"Cuz I am."

"Well.. You're Co-captain for the cheer team. They announced it last night but you ran off." I raise an eyebrow, "Who's the other captain?" "Me. So you should get used to hanging out with me." she says passively, "And making posters with me. And making routines with me, and baking for bake sales with me, and being the best friend ever.. To me." She says. I chuckle, "I get it we're stuck together and I'm gonna enjoy it whether I want to or not." She grins, "Exactly."

Kiki comes and sits down on the other side of me, holding a piccolo. I glance at Kim, "This just got awkward." She whispers.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

When the bell rings, Jared is waiting for Kim, and I run to my locker and put my piccolo in it.

"Kaori... Um hi." I turn around and see Seth, in a black shirt and dark wash jeans with his hair messy and all over the place. "Hi Seth." "I'm sorry.. For getting you in trouble last night." I shrug, "it's fine.. I had it coming anyway. Thank you for... Um you know.." "Saving you?" He asks, grinning slightly. I nod, and he smiles, "You're welcome..."

Jasper passes us slowly, and my eyes widen and I hide behind Seth who growls. He grabs my hand, "Come on. Lets get you to class." He practically drags me to the band/orchestra room then sighs.

"Seth I'm really sorry but I have to stay away from you because I want to dance." I say quickly. He blinks a couple times, "Okayy.. You want to dance.. And _I_ want to protect you. So if you ignore me, it'll seem like you're trying to stay away from me and everyone's happy." He says. "No I mean I can't be near you! My dad might find out and-" "We won't get caught, right? See you after class Kaori." He says, grinning and then walks away.

I walk into the room and sit down in my seat right before the bell rings. "What was that about?" Kaoru asks. I sigh, "He thinks he's my knight in shining armor." Kaoru sighs, "Apparently, his alpha doesn't scare him." I look at him, "His alpha? Will someone please explain?!" I shriek. The teacher looks at us, and Kaoru and I look at our feet. "Nice going." He whispers.

After class, Seth is waiting, smiling. Kaoru sighs, looking down at me. "Look.. I appreciate you saving my sister from that blood-um _Cullen_ _creep_. But this is risky.. Just don't get caught. And don't talk to each other too much either. I swear I will not hesitate to strangle you." Kaoru says and then walks away. Seth raises his eyebrows, and makes a show of not opening his mouth and offering me his arm. I roll my eyes and shake my head. He pouts and then shrugs, and starts walking to class.

When we walk into the classroom, Seth makes me sit in between him and Jared, with Kim on the other side. And I noticed for the first time, that jasper and his brother Emmett are in this class. Emmett looks at me cautiously, and then pushes his brother to the back of the room. Seth growls, looking back at them, and I try to make myself shrink into a tiny ball. Doesn't work well in a desk.

"Kaori.. You feel alright?" Seth asks. I nod, "Fine just a little dizzy. And freaked out. And scared. Absolutely terrified." I say quickly.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Cheerleading Practice  
"Kaori! Get over here!" Coach calls when I walk into the gym. "Here's your uniform, your shoes, your ribbons, and your poms. Now listen, we go to a competition every Wednesday, and you, Kim and I need to come up with the routines. Also, we cheer year round, for the football team, the basketball team, the spring soccer team, and sometimes even the wrestlers; if my husband really begs." I blink a few times, "Okay." "But obviously the school year is almost over so we'll only be cheering for some spring soccer and the rest of the basketball games. Also.. A few of these girls have it out for you and Kim because you all are new and you're the captain. And I'm a new coach. So we'll see what happens. Wear that uniform tomorrow, we have a competition at 2:15." "So Kim and I have to come up with a routine-" "Right now, correct."

I walk over to the mat and sit down next to Kim, who's leading the stretches. "We have to come up with a routine." I whisper. "Don't worry, I got it. I was thinking about it all night. You ok with being a flyer?" "Sure. What's a flyer?" I ask. She laughs, "You'll see."

I saw alright, when they dropped me on my butt. "Ouch." I say, getting up. "Sorry." A girl name Allie says, shrugging. "Umm it's fine." Kim comes over by me, "How do ya like being a flyer so far?" "It's amazing." I drawl sarcastically.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Hey, how are you getting home?" Seth asks quietly after practice. "Well... I was gonna walk." I say slowly. "I'll accompany you." He says, a silly grin on his face. "What? But-" "I promise no one will see me." He interrupts me. "Fine." I huff, blowing my bangs out of my face.

He picks up my duffle bag and we start walking towards the door. When we get to the parking lot, I shiver at the cold air and Seth pulls me close to his side. And growls. I look around him and see the Cullen's car. "Is Jasper in there?" I whisper. "I don't know. They all smell the same." He says irritably.

I have no time to process what that meant. Too busy being absolutely terrified.

The door opens and Edward comes towards us, with Alice at his side. I sigh in relief when jasper makes no sudden appearance. Seth growls, and pulls me flush against his side. "Seth, come on. It's just us." Alice says, sounding a bit down. "Well I'm not exactly fond of any of you right now. You just stood there while he almost sucked her completely lifeless!" He says, starting to shake. "He wouldn't have." Edward says calmly. "Really?! If me and Sam hasn't shown up the second we did, she would've been-" "Seth, please no details in front of her." Alice says. Seth glances down at me, and I look at him in confusion. "What do you want Edward?" Seth sighs eventually. "Someone _has_ to leave. Jasper is fully enticed and hooked on her scent and is positive the only way to resolve it is to.. Well you know." Alice stands stiffly by Edwards side while Seth growls at them. "There is no way that is going to happen! You're gonna have to leave!" He yells. "Look with the threat closing in on us from every side-something has to be done. Jasper is our most seasoned fighter and well..we cannot risk losing him." Alice says. "What makes you think in going to let her out of my sight? This is our territory too. Just keep him away from her."

Then he walks away, pulling me with him

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

When I get home, I practice for awhile, do homework, and then wait for Kim to come over so we can work on our routine that's separate from the teams. When she gets there, I'm playing my guitar downstairs while Kaoru plays the some game. "Um hi." "Kim! Finally!" I say and sit down my guitar, then give her a hug. "Kaoru, Akari, you have to leave now. And I'm somewhat sorry. Bye." I say, pointing up the stairs.  
They glare at me, then get up and gravitate to each others side and march up the stairs.

"I'll just move some furniture and then we can get started. "What now? You just have to move some furniture?" Kim says scornfully. "Uh.. Yeah." I say and push the couch back and pick up the table and move it to the side of the room. "Okay. You move furniture. That's your superpower." She says, sitting down. I laugh, "You have no idea." I say then sit down and take off my socks. "Hey.. Is it ok if I ask? What is that thing anyway?" She asks quietly, pointing at my ankle. I look down at the silver and red mark-that's way easier to call a tattoo.

"Um.. Well it's a mark to distinguish me from others in my clan." I say quietly. "Didn't it happen at the beach that day?" I shrug, "Part of it. They don't really know 'cause I'm sorta the only one with it and apparently it develops in stages." "Oh.. So it's not a tattoo." I shake my head, "Not really." "Oh.." "Cookies, girls?" My mom asks, appearing out of nowhere.

My mom can be such a life saver.

"Thank you mom." I say, and take a peanut butter cookie from the platter.

••A couple hours later••  
"So.. Um what are you gonna do?" Kim asks awkwardly. "What do you mean?" I ask, moving the couch back and sitting down. She gets up and sits down next to me, "About Jasper. And Seth. And stuff like that." She says calmly. "Seth told you about that?" "He didn't mean to." She says quickly, "But the guys are all kinda like siblings and can't help telling each other things, and Jared tells me everything he knows. So yeah..." She says, playing with her hands. "I was so terrified. It was the scariest thing I've ever seen. And then I saw wolves. But Seth said they weren't there." Kim nods, "The Cullen's can get.. Creepy." "He was going to eat her!" Someone shrieks. A little girl comes around the corner, with flashing green eyes and long black hair. "Kiki what the hell?" I whisper. "Oh. Sorry." She says, and grows taller and visibly older by the second. Kim's jaw falls open, and she watches dumbfounded as Kiki becomes near our age again. "Kiki please stop already." I groan. "Why, she's on our territory. We don't have to act normal around her. Even though that's all she is..." Kiki trails off, her nose in the air. "Kiki leave us alone please." "Oh come on Kaori, blow me away again. You know you want to." "Leave us alone." "As you wish, mistress of the elements." She trills and walks upstairs. Kim's mouth is still wide open, "She just went from-like ten to seventeen." She stutters eventually. "Yeah." I say quietly. "That's amazing!" Kim says, looking at me. I shrug, "Its alright.."

"So your family.. is gifted." She says eventually

"Yeah."

"How?"

"Maybe I'll tell you one day. It's a long story." I say.

"Deal. I'm holding you to that!" She says, pointing.

"Okay."

"So what about Seth?" "What about him? He's resolved to protect me and my dad told me I can't dance because I hung out with him." I say. "Stubborn men." She says quietly. "Exactly."

The Next Day  
"Kim, Kaori, time to get up." Kaoru yawns, turning on the light. I sigh, and thrust a rock at his leg, then instantly regret it when he chucks it back at my head. "You guys didn't touch that rock." Kim says, completely awoke. I sit up and look at Kaoru, and we shake our heads, "No not really." We say simultaneously. "Wow." She whispers.

I get dressed in my cheer uniform,  
Which is red, black, and blue. The top is cropped and the skirt is mid-thigh length. The shoes are just white. So they're boring.. So I wear red converse. Kim and I curl each others hair and wear it in a ponytail with the ribbons tied in. And then I put on my makeup, silver eyeshadow, mascara, a large black wing, a touch of blush cuz Kim said.. And bubblegum pink lipstick.

Kim drives us to school and when we get there, she drags me over to the picnic tables where her friends are. "Kaori! Long time no see." Paul says sarcastically. "Um.. Hey guys." "Hhhhhhiiiiii?..." Seth says, stopping mid stride and looking me up and down. "Stop. Cut it out. I'm not kidding." I say quickly, blushing. "Sorry. You didn't tell me or anything, so you know. I was surprised." He says, and wraps me in a giant hug. "Seth, what if Kiki sees? Stop!" I whisper, but make no move to pull away. "Oops. Right." He says, and lets me go reluctantly. "Aww! You guys are soo cute!" Jared says, wrinkling his nose, "Its the most adorable thing I've ever seen!" "Shut up!" Seth says defensively. I roll my eyes, blushing. "Idiots." I whisper.

"HEY! HEY, CO-CAPTIAN!" Allie and Selena yell coming towards me. "We need help setting up the bake sale, come please?" Selena says, smiling. "Okay?" "Good. Lets go." Allies says, then grabs my hand and pulls me away. So we set up tables and lay out the cupcakes and cookies and brownies and yada-yada-yada. Kim and I use our first period to sell it to random people who just might be on their way to or from the lunchroom; like teachers. And everything was going fine until Jasper showed up.

He stops right in front of me and smiles, "Kaori, I haven't seen you in a long, long time." I scoot my chair back, "You saw me yesterday creep." I mutter. "Sure, but we never got to finish our conversation." "Yeah 'cause you were gonna kill me!" I shriek. "You listen to too much common gossip." He tsks. "Please just leave me alone." I say quietly. "I'm afraid I can't do that." He says, and then shrugs. "Well you really should right now." Kim says, returning his nonchalant shrug. "Oh really?" He snarls, leaning on the table. "Yeah." Kim says, without flinching. And then I see why. At almost the same time, the Cullen's and our friends come from opposite sides of the hallway, all focused on Jasper.

"Jazz, this is a bad idea, leave them alone." Alice calls out, reaching for his hand. Seth walks around the table and stands behind me and Jared stands behind Kim. Jasper growls before waking past his family and out of the school doors. I get up and hug Seth tightly. "He didn't hurt you, right?" He murmurs. "No, he just scared the shit out of me." I whisper. "This is not going to work." Edward says, sounding agitated. "Well why don't you get your psychopath brother under control?!" Jacob yells back. "Jake.. He's not a psycho." Bella says softly. "Could've fooled me." "We can't constantly watch Jasper because there are more pressing matters at hand!" Alice says. "Look you guys graduate in like a month or something, so we'll keep Kaori away from Jasper and vice versa." "We can't make any promises." Edward says dejectedly. Seth growls, and pulls me closer as the Cullen's walk away.

"Kaori, we have to go home." Kaoru says, appearing out of, well, nowhere. "No!" I whine, "I have my first competition today." "We really need her." Kim adds. "You do realize that mom will be a little mad you said no right? There's an "emergency" about your bethro-party." Kaoru stutters, glancing at Seth. "What kind of party?!" Kim interrupts sharply. "Birthday." I say quickly. "Tell mom it'll just have to wait till after school. She's probably wrong about the Kimono, will you remind her that I already tried it on?" "It's not about the kimono, Kaori! It's about the guests!" Akari speaks up from Kaoru's side. My eyes widen, "Someone else wants to come?" "Yeah. And grandmother doesn't approve. But mom does." I sigh, "Crap."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Eighth Hour  
We're sitting in class, waiting for the bell to ring, when Kim passes me a note:

_Was your brother going to say "betrothal party"?!_

I sigh,

_Maybe._

_WHAT THE HELL?! YOU CAN'T MARRY SOME RAMDOM DUDE!_

_Trust me when I say it's not my idea to have and arranged marriage! Especially not now!_

Kim's POV  
When the announcement is made for all cheerleaders to make their way to the girls locker room, Kaori and I get up and leave the classroom. Kaori looks at me, "So how weird do you think I am now?" I shrug, "I have to get something from my locker." She walks down the hallway and I head towards Seth and Jared's eighth hour, debating with myself.

Should I give him the note or not?  
He's already worried about his imprint because there's a crazy vampire lusting for her blood!  
And then if he doesn't know, and one day she's just up and married, he'll be so heartbroken!  
But if I tell him will Kaori feel betrayed?  
My gut is telling me to tell him.  
And my head is telling me to be smart and keep my freakin mouth shut!  
But then I'll tell Jared and Jared will involuntarily tell the whole pack!  
I have to tell him!  
Aaaaaahhhhh!  
Why are they so complicated?!

I raise my hand and knock on the classroom door. "Come in." The teachers bored voice says. I walk in and leave the door open behind me. "Hi, I was wondering if we could borrow Seth Clearwater?" I ask politely.  
"We?"  
"The cheerleaders."  
"Are you the captain?"  
"Yes ma'am."  
"Why?"  
"We were putting up banners and our ladder broke and we have one more and I know if Seth stands on a chair, he'll be able to reach it."  
"How do you know?"  
"He's my brother."  
She smirks, "Okay, Ms. Conweller, Mr. Clearwater may go with you."  
I smirk back, "My brother _in law_, ma'am."  
Her mouth falls open, and I leave the room.

Seth comes out laughing, "You just convinced her I'm your brother in law." "Well you're gonna be soon." I say, shrugging. "Technically." He says nonchalantly as if i _didn't_ just announce that I'm the only engaged junior at Forks and LaPush high school. "Technically."

"So are there really banners?" I sigh and hand the note over slowly. He reads it, and his face becomes serious, "Kim this isn't funny." He says harshly. "It's not a joke, Seth." I say gently. "What am I supposed to do?!" "Talk to her mom. I'm positive she'll be here for the competition. And.. Tell her. Like everything."


	7. Chapter 7: I love him

Just to warn you, this is a tiny chapter.

* * *

The competition went great! We got second place across the board, and we still got medals! I don't think I've ever thought about how fun a dance competition would be before.

Well.. Everything went great until the end.

I was standing with the team and we were squealing and just being girls. Then Seth appears, looking sad, mad and confused. "Hey, Seth, what's wrong?" I ask quietly, reaching out to touch his arm. He jerks away, and moves towards Kim., "I told her. And guess what she told me?! She told me to stay the hell away from her daughter and moved the freaking date up! So thank you, Kim! Thanks a lot! Now I won't even have a chance!" He yells at her, then leaves the gym. I look at Kim, wide eyed. "Kim.. You told him?" I whisper, feeling betrayed. "I figured someone had to." I glare at her, "It should've been me!" I say, and then run after Seth.

I skid to a stop when I almost run into him, and he turns around. "Seth.. I'm sorry.. I don't want to. But it's not my decision.. Can..can we still be friends?" I ask nervously, his angry glare scaring me a little bit. "Friends, Kaori? No, I'm sorry. I was kinda shooting for something else." He says, backing up. I grab his arm, "What? What do you mean?" "I wish I could've had the chance to show you." He says, and gently removes his arm from my grasp.

And then, he walked away. And I felt so sad, it came out of no where and hit me really hard. And I started to cry... Because I love him. And I'm letting him walk away from me. And I have to marry someone that's not him, and never know what true love is.

Next thing I know, Kaoru is picking me up and carrying me out of the gym. I cry into his shoulder hysterically, not trying to keep anything under wraps. And soon a lightening show is going on and a circus is flying around in the air. He sits me down in the car, and pulls me close to him. "Kaoru.. It hurts really bad." I whisper hoarsely. "I know." He says. Then I look at his arm, where the mark of the loved is. And tears pour down my face harder. "No you don't know! You have Akari! But I'll never have him!" I yell, as thunder claps outside. "Kaori, you're going to start a hurricane." my mother says as she gets into the drivers seat. "Don't talk to me." I say, leaning into Kaoru. "Don't be disrespectful to me, Kaori! I'm doing what's best for you! I'm trying my hardest." She says angrily, then starts the car. "But they're only going to die anyway! And I'm not! How is that best for me?!" I yell. "You are only a child! You do not know how these things work!" "If I am only a child why are you selling me into an already unhappy marriage?" I whisper, and move my hands forcefully downward, causing rain to fall harder.

"Good luck getting home."


	8. Chapter 8: Rebelling

When we got home, maybe an hour and a half later, I make my way upstairs to the attic, which had been deemed the music room. A woman is sitting at the piano, obviously tall with the shape of a model. Her hair flows well past the bench, and hangs near the floor. I know her striking silver eyes are reading the notes on the page before her, with her arms folded into the wide sleeves of her red kimono. She looks no older than thirty, but I know she holds the wisdom of someone who has lived for more than two hundred years. Simply because... _She has_. "Hi grandma." I say quietly, walking over and sitting next to her. "Hello Kaori, what's wrong?" She asks, looking down at me, her marred face looking kinder than most others.

"I don't want to do this." I say, dragging my fingers along the keys. "Your heart loves another?" She asks, raising an eyebrow and smiling. "Well how can I love a complete stranger, especially if I haven't met them yet?" I ask. "Especially if you already love someone." She adds nonchalantly, "Describe it to me."

And I try my best to describe the feeling I get when I'm around him, and how I know that no one else could ever make me experience the same feeling. And I told her of the strong pulling of sorts that made me always want to be near him. And of the strong bond we shared, that now seemed strained, but was still there. And she listened carefully, and when I was finished, she turned to face me,

"You are a truly extraordinary child. I'm afraid you've done the impossible. But this is going to be complicated. I will tell your parents about this, but if they do not believe me.. I cannot say what will happen." And with that, he rose and left the room.

I drag my fingers across the keys of the piano, and soon begin to play a song. It's not one I've ever heard before, but it's notes fill the room, and bounce back to me. I move from instrument to instrument from hours upon hours, playing the same song. Eventually I get tired, and lay down on the couch in the back. Before I know it, I'm asleep.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Later  
I'm awakened by knocking on the door, and I sit up groggily. Kiki comes in, and sits down next to me. "Kiki please don't." I say quietly. "I didn't come to spew bullshit _or_ be a bitch, I promise." She says, holding up her hands.

"I know I haven't been the best cousin... But I do know how you feel. I've been where you're at. And not fighting back is the wrong decision. Before I came here, I found the one back home. But I was afraid of what my parents would think so I hid him from them. I also hid this," She says, holding out her arm. The mark of the loved soon appears, and my mouth drops open, "Kiki-" "Let me finish. One day, I told them, and they did disapprove. So they set up one of these betrothal things for me, and soon found a suitor. But I 'defiled' myself in the highest way," she says, using air quotes, "I slept with the man I loved and was with child. My parents were angry, and had the baby aborted while I was asleep. I woke up on a plane. And I haven't seen him since." She says quietly. "Kiki... I'm so sorry." I whisper. She takes a deep breath, "But my whole point is, don't give up. Rebel against the system. It'll be _fun_, I promise." She says, and smiles slightly. "Anyway.. Wanna go max out you parents credit card?" She says, a full blown grin on her face. I tap my chin, thinking, "Sounds fun... And slightly impossible." She stands up, and pulls me with her, "We'll do our best."

So she drags me downstairs, and makes me change. We find Akari and Kaoru, and leave. "So, Seattle or Olympia?" Kiki asks, grinning. "I don't care. You guys?" I ask. They shake their heads no, and Kiki claps, "Both it is then!"

We ended up in Olympia first, and went to every single store. And we bought something in every single store. Where as Kiki bought a full blown second wardrobe, I mostly bought t-shirts, a few pairs of pants and lots of shoes. So many amazing shoes... And some accessories, earrings, bracelets, necklaces, a couple hats, ankle bracelets, hair stuff, etc. you name it, one of us probably bought it.. And don't even mention the candy store. I'd have to say I liked Seattle better though, because they had a skateboarding shop, and they had a neon collection... And I had to have them _all_... Lets just leave it at that.

When we got home, we got yelled at, and Kiki and I yelled back. I can already tell that the rest of this month is going to be long.

**The next day**

When I wake up for school, I'm not excited at all. I don't want to go, but I also don't want to stay here with my psycho family. So I get in the shower, and wash my hair, etc. When I get out, I get dressed in black jeans with red and purple patches, a purple t-shirt with lightening bolts on it, and a blue jean vest. I put on a new pair of high tops that I got last night, that are black and silver, and everything that's silver is covered in sparkles. I straighten my hair, and put on a little bit of make up, then grab the white board I got last night and head out, Kiki behind me on my pink one.

When we get to school, we go straight to my locker and shove the skateboards in it. We sit down in front of the lockers, waiting for the bell to ring. "So. How are you going to get out of this?" Kiki asks. "I don't know. But I would love it if Seth didn't hate me." She rolls her eyes, "We talking about the same person? Seth doesn't hate you." I shrug, and play with my hands, deciding not to answer. "What is it people say?" "What?" I ask looking at her. "When the person they're talking about shows up." She says, gesturing with her hands. "I don't know." "Oh! I got it! They be like 'speak of the devil'" she says, then elbows me and points down the hallway. "Lets go, Kiki." I say, getting up. "You have a chance to see him and you're just not going to take it?" I get up, grabbing my backpack and slinging it over my shoulders. "Kaori, what are yo going to do when you can't see him anymore? Not even in a school hallway?" She whispers. "Look Kiki, if we don't go now, we'll be late for class."

And then the hallway felt too small, and I felt as if my chest was going to burst. He passes by me without a glance, and I turn on my heel and walk away, my head down. "Kaori! You can't just not say anything!" Kiki shrieks. "Yes I can. Especially when he doesn't care anymore." "So what? You're just going to give up now?" She asks, her hand on her hip. "I don't know Kiki." She gives me a reproachful look, "Not knowing, yeah, that's the worst part."


End file.
